NDMC to set up football academy in Central Delhi

New Delhi: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will set up a world-class football academy in the city to provide youngsters with quality training and advanced infrastructure.

The football academy will come up at Shera Maidan behind Mandir Marg in Central Delhi in the next six months. It will be constructed as per the standards laid down by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).

“Soccer is as sought-after a game today as cricket… We wanted to provide an opportunity to girls and boys who would like to take up the game as professional careers to learn the nuances from qualified coaches and have proper infrastructure to practice,” said NDMC Chairman Jalaj Srivastava.

The stadium, which will have facilities like 3G artificial grass turf and high-definition video cameras to analyse players’ performances, will be open for hosting international tournaments, he said.

The civic body has floated a ‘Request for Proposal’ for the project, under which the bidder who will build, operate and maintain the stadium for 30 years will have to give 10 per cent of its revenue towards promotion of sports in schools run by NDMC.

“This will be the most technologically driven football stadium in Delhi. It will have 3G artificial grass turf, unlike Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Ambedkar stadium, a state- of-the-art gym and physiotherapy room. Eight high-definition (HD) sports video cameras will be installed for analysing players’ performance and four FIFA-qualified coaches will be hired for imparting training,” Srivastava said.

While the academy will be open to all, 50 per cent of the slots will be reserved for NDMC schools. “NDMC staff and students will be provided free coaching for crucial roles like referees, linesman, ground staff and managers. Besides soccer training, the academy will also run two other training programmes for students studying in NDMC schools,” he said.

“Girl students in NDMC schools above the age of nine will be offered free self-defence training at the academy,” he added.